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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rolled out a new platform, backed by artificial intelligence, that will streamline publicly accessible reporting of negative or unexpected health effects linked to medicines, vaccines, cosmetics, animal food and other consumer products.

The FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS) began operation Tuesday and will consolidate outdated systems used to process millions of adverse event reports and produce results in real time for consumers to access online. 

‘The FDA’s fragmented adverse event systems have wasted taxpayer dollars and created large blind spots in our post-market surveillance,’ FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary told Fox News Digital in a statement. ‘We’re addressing this critical issue by conducting a major modernization initiative on an accelerated timeline.’ 

‘Moving forward, the FDA will have a single, intuitive adverse event platform that will better equip us and any interested researcher to access key data and insights about the safety of products on the market,’ Makary added.

Adverse event reports are critical to determining the safety and effectiveness of certain drugs and products after they are approved for clinical trials and reach the wider consumer market, though the agency says the reports have been undermined due to current inefficient infrastructure.

The general concept of AEMS is that consumers will be able to access the new website and search for FDA-approved cosmetics, drugs, vaccines, or foods that have adverse effect reports as they are reported by healthcare professionals, consumers, manufacturers, and user facilities for medical devices. 

The agency estimates that roughly 6 to 7 million adverse event reports per year are evaluated through a seven database system. The FDA says that the collective cost of utilizing the database is an estimated $37 million bill to taxpayers. AEMS is expected to save the FDA approximately $120 million over the next five years, according to the agency.

The new website will be more accessible than the current quarterly report issued by the agency, and senior sources at the FDA told Fox News Digital they saw a 3,000% increase in users in a pilot program that launched last September.

‘Consolidating the FDA’s adverse event systems and converting to real-time publication was challenging, but made possible by a highly aggressive schedule,’ the FDA’s Chief AI Officer Jeremy Walsh told Fox News Digital in a statement. ‘The team executed with perfection and delivered the biggest technical transformation in agency history. This is the new FDA.’

The legacy systems that are currently in place include the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS),  Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), and Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS), which will be replaced with the new system effective immediately. 

In May, the AEMS will also replace the Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE), Human Foods Complaint System (HFCS), and Center for Tobacco Products Adverse Event Reporting System (CTPAE).

Each one of these systems will be integrated into the new AEMS, with artificial intelligence assisting for manual data entries and coding adverse events. 

Sources at the FDA told Fox News Digital that the next phase of the rollout will be implementing a front-end system that makes it easy for reports to be submitted. The agency estimates that 80% of reports are never entered due to the complexity of filing a report — potentially resulting in some untold side effects never being made public. 

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is hammering Democrats over the partial government shutdown as its effects begin to hit millions of travelers at airports across the country.

‘This is expected to be one of the busiest spring travel seasons on record. Over 171 million travelers are estimated to fly in the coming weeks, and they expect the agencies responsible for keeping them safe to be fully operational,’ Scalise told Fox News Digital.

‘The longer Democrats hold the Department of Homeland Security hostage, the longer they’re forcing [Transportation Security Administration (TSA)] agents to work without pay and the worse the pain will be that Democrats inflict on regular Americans.’

It comes as TSA agents, whose agency operates under DHS, are set to miss their first full paychecks next week. And with Democrats continuing to withhold the department’s funding in protest of President Donald Trump’s handling of illegal immigration, the standoff still has no clear end in sight.

Scalise’s own hometown travel hub, the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, is facing hours-long delays due to the ongoing shutdown.

The airport’s official X account warned travelers to arrive two to three hours before their scheduled departure time earlier this week due to a ‘shortage of TSA workers’ at its security checkpoints owing to ‘impacts from the federal government’s partial shutdown.’

‘The recent chaos at my airport in New Orleans, and airports across the country, is impossible to miss — wait times longer than three hours, lines stretching out to the parking lot,’ Scalise said. ‘It’s ridiculous, shameful, and it never should have happened.’

Scalise said his office was in contact with airport staff about the issue, and that they are concerned about their own welfare as the shutdown continues.

‘They’re worried about the impact the shutdown will have on TSA employees and the ability for the airport to get travelers through security and make their flights in a timely fashion,’ he said. ‘This is the third time in six months that TSA agents are being forced to worry about missing a paycheck because Washington Democrats keep using them as leverage.’

The airport in New Orleans is not the only one battling staffing issues because of the shutdown.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas urged travelers to arrive earlier than planned due to fewer airport security lines being open due to personnel shortages. Nearby William P. Hobby Airport asked people to arrive three hours early for domestic flights and four hours early for international flights.

The partial shutdown is in its 25th day as Democrats continue to refuse the GOP’s compromise offers on funding DHS.

Unlike last year’s 43-day government shutdown, however, roughly 97% of the federal budget has been accounted for already. In other words, all agencies but DHS are funded through the remainder of the fiscal year.

But DHS is a wide-ranging department that oversees the TSA, U.S. Coast Guard, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Secret Service, and others.

In addition to travel delays hitting U.S. airports over TSA shortages, the shutdown’s effects have also come into sharper focus as national security threats grow in the U.S. over the Trump administration’s joint operation with Israel targeting Iran.

The House has now twice passed a bipartisan DHS funding bill, the product of bipartisan negotiations in the previous shutdown’s wake. But in the Senate, where Democrats are critical to advancing the legislation past the 60-vote filibuster threshold, progress has all but stalled.

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About 60% of Texas Republicans voted last Tuesday to end John Cornyn’s career in the Senate, but it wasn’t really Cornyn they were rejecting. It was the feckless, do-nothing GOP Senate leadership that makes ‘Waiting for Godot’ look like a ‘Fast and Furious.’

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wound up in a virtual tie with Cornyn, and headed to a runoff precisely because Republican voters, not just in Texas, but across the country, are incandescently angry at the GOP-controlled Senate’s inability to do, well, much of anything.

This righteous fury is why Paxton’s political play in the face of a runoff was so brilliant. He said that if the Senate would pass the Save America Act, and its voter ID provisions, he would drop out, saving President Donald Trump from having to swoop in with a decisive endorsement.

For Cornyn, and more importantly for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., this occasioned a crisis, a much-needed one, in fact, as GOP voters stare across the desk at Senate leadership, like the Bobs in ‘Office Space,’ asking, if they can’t pass a bill with massive public support, what would they say they do there?

Thune responded Monday to growing public calls to pass the Save America Act in the stupidest, most infuriating way possible, by asserting that voters aren’t really angry, and the furor is all just a campaign by paid influencers.

The fact that Thune has not apologized for this yet is incredible. It is as condescending to working-class voters as anything a politician has ever said.

Does Thune think that 60% of Republicans in Texas voting against the Senate status quo is a sign that they think he’s doing a great job?

It is not.

All across the country, Republican voters tell me that they are apoplectic about the Senate. Yes, they understand the arcane 60-vote filibuster stuff. They just don’t care. They want and need action from a body that refuses to act.

Trump pushes for SAVE Act as GOP divided on talking filibuster

And it isn’t just Paxton who knows in his bones how vitally GOP voters need a win on the Save America Act, it is also Trump, who has shown a rare amount of patience with Thune’s ineptitude and incalcitrance. At least so far.

Even Cornyn has come around, if only in the face of his own potential political demise, penning a column in the New York Post calling for the filibuster to be abandoned and the act to be passed.

But Thune, with his long, sad face and low mournful voice like Eeyore the donkey, just keeps saying, ‘We don’t have the votes to break the filibuster.’

Ok, John, then how about this: Any Republican senator who refuses to vote to break the filibuster loses their committee assignments, gets no money from the party and is promised a primary.

The most dangerous thing I heard from GOP voters in Texas, and I heard it from plenty, is that they are starting to think their vote just doesn’t matter, that nothing can change anyway. And right now, who would argue with them?

I don’t know who Thune surrounds himself with who told him that the anger I see everywhere from Republican voters is just a paid influencer campaign, but I would urge him to go talk to some actual voters instead of his K Street cronies.

It was an ominous sign that more Democrats than Republicans voted in last week’s deep-red Texas primary, but not a surprise, because the demoralized aren’t eager voters. And if the Save America Act dies on the vine, even fewer will feel compelled to cast a ballot.

In the final moments of ‘Waiting for Godot,’ Vladimir says, ‘Well? Shall we go?’ To which Estragon replies, ‘Yes, let’s go.’ And then the famous stage direction, (They do not move.).

There is no direct evidence to show that Samuel Beckett was inspired by Senate Republican leadership when he wrote this, but he could have been, because it is the same old scene, over and over.

If nothing else, Thune needs to look GOP voters in the eye and say, directly, ‘We hear you. We know you are angry. We see it in the primary results and we will listen to what you want and try to do better.’

Right now, Thune and Senate Republicans are like the inattentive husband who doesn’t know the divorce papers have already been filed. It may not be too late to work it out with voters, but it’s getting pretty close.

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In a sharp break from his long-standing defense of the Senate filibuster, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, urged Republicans Wednesday to enact ‘whatever changes’ necessary to send a Trump-backed voter ID bill to President Donald Trump’s desk before November’s midterm elections.

Cornyn, who is locked in a fierce runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, is pressing Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE (Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility) America Act — even if it means scrapping the chamber’s 60-vote legislative filibuster.

His appeal marks a significant reversal for the Texas Republican, who long argued the filibuster served as a safeguard against Democrats advancing sweeping left-wing priorities with a simple majority.

‘For many years, I believed that if the U.S. Senate scrapped the filibuster, Texas and our nation would stand to lose more than we would gain,’ Cornyn wrote in a New York Post op-ed Wednesday morning. ‘But when the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt.’

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is expected to put the SAVE America Act to a vote in the Senate next week, but the measure could fail on the floor given widespread opposition from Democrats. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is also facing a weeks-long shutdown over Democrats’ refusal to fund the agency absent vast reforms to immigration enforcement.

Under Senate rules, both pieces of legislation would have to overcome the 60-vote threshold — meaning buy-in from some Democrats — to survive a key procedural vote before final passage.

‘Today, Democrats are weaponizing the Senate’s rules to block the SAVE America Act, defund the Department of Homeland Security and hurt the American people — all to spite President Donald Trump,’ Cornyn wrote.

‘After careful consideration, I support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary for us to get the SAVE America Act and Homeland Security funding past the Democrats’ obstruction, through the Senate and on the president’s desk for his signature,’ Cornyn added.

Trump has repeatedly called on the Senate to pass the voter ID bill, calling it the ‘number one priority’ during an address to House Republicans on Monday.

The House-passed legislation would require proof-of-citizenship to vote in federal elections, impose voter ID requirements and require states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls. Trump has asked Republicans to add provisions that crack down on mail-in ballots, prohibit biological males’ participation in women’s sports and ban child sex-change procedures. 

Trump has also threatened not to sign any legislation into law until the SAVE America Act clears the Senate. The White House later clarified that DHS funding was not included in the president’s ultimatum.

‘We can either unilaterally disarm, or we can stand and fight,’ Cornyn wrote. ‘The answer is clear: We need to stand, fight and win.

Both Cornyn and Paxton are vying for Trump’s endorsement ahead of the late May runoff election that will decide who will face Democratic candidate James Talarico, a Texas state senator, in the November general election. Trump said last week that he would ‘soon’ back a candidate, but he has yet to issue an endorsement. Cornyn, who has served in the upper chamber since 2002, is seeking his fifth Senate term.

Paxton said last week that he would consider exiting the race if the Senate were to circumvent the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act.

‘The SAVE America Act is the most important bill the U.S. Senate could ever pass, and I’m committed to helping President Trump get it done,’ Paxton wrote. 

Despite Cornyn’s new openness to filibuster reform, the SAVE America Act still faces an uphill battle in the Senate. The bill passed the House last month in a vote mostly along party lines.

Thune, a supporter of the SAVE America Act, has repeatedly said that the votes do not exist to scrap the 60-vote filibuster and advance the voter ID measure.

The majority leader has also warned against using the talking filibuster — a little-used maneuver preferred by some conservatives — arguing that approach would have unintended consequences and risks jamming the Senate floor for an indefinite period.

‘The votes aren’t there for a talking filibuster,’ Thune said Tuesday.

‘I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up, but those are the facts and there’s no getting around it,’ he continued.

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President Donald Trump took a bow Tuesday night for his 5-0 record for his endorsed candidates in the Republican elections held in Mississippi and Georgia.

‘March 10th election update: 5 wins, 0 losses,’ an election night image posted to Truth Social blared. ‘President Trump endorsements 100%.’

The image hailed a 4-0 record in Mississippi (Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss.; Reps. Mike Ezell, R-Miss.; Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss.; Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss.) and 1-0 in Georgia, albeit with a bullet.

‘President Trump’s endorsed candidates keep winning because Republican voters trust his leadership and want America First champions in Congress,’ RNC spokeswoman Emma Hall told Fox News Digital in a statement. ‘From cutting taxes to securing the border, every Republican candidate in the country is proudly running on President Trump’s record and competing for his endorsement because it remains the single most decisive factor in GOP primaries.’

In one of the marquee matchups, an all-party special election for an open House seat, Republican Clay Fuller earned an April 7 runoff against Democrat Shawn Harris for the seat vacated by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in Georgia’s ‘solid red’ 14th Congressional District.

‘Clay Fuller is going to be a fantastic Congressman in representing the Great State of Georgia,’ Trump wrote Wednesday morning on Truth Social.

‘Now we have to be careful and finish it off. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!’

While Fuller did not earn the special election victory, and Harris won the most votes (37.3%) in a 17-candidate field that included nine Republicans, Harris only had to outdistance two Democrats. Fuller trailed Harris by only 3,000 votes at 34.9%. Republican Colton Moore finished third and out of the running at 11.6%, while no other candidate reached 5%.

‘I think the Republican Party is going to unite around us because they know that the Democrat is too dangerous,’ Fuller said Tuesday night. ‘We can’t have a Democrat representing Georgia 14. That would be a tragedy for our community, a tragedy for Georgia 14 and a tragedy for the MAGA movement.’

The total number of votes cast across all candidates in this election result thus far is 115,823, and Republicans outdistanced Democrat votes by nearly 20 points. GOP candidates garnered a total of 59.7%, while Democrats had 39.8% and independents had less than 1%.

‘Congratulations to Clay Fuller, of Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, on getting such a high percentage of the vote with 12 Republicans running,’ Trump wrote Tuesday night on Truth Social. ‘We want to make the next vote ‘TOO BIG TO RIG.’ Clay will be a GREAT Congressman — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!’

Fuller was a White House fellow in the first Trump administration and is a lieutenant colonel in the Georgia Air National Guard. He finished fourth in the 2020 Republican primary that Greene won. He credited Trump’s nod for propelling him to the runoff.

‘They want to know who President Trump was endorsing in this race,’ Fuller said. ‘And that’s why they came out in droves to support him, because they want an America First fighter on Capitol Hill fighting for his policies that are going to make a difference for our community.’

Harris said he is not worried about further Trump intervention.

‘If Donald Trump wants to come and do what he wants to do, that’s his business,’ he said.

The House GOP majority is a narrow 218-214 right now, making the Fuller-Harris April 7 runoff an important one for upcoming 2026 votes. There are two other vacancies awaiting special elections this year, including blue-state seats formerly held by New Jersey Democrat Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who resigned from the House in November, and the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who died Jan. 6.

Illinois is next up on the GOP primary schedule on Tuesday, March 17, when three Trump-endorsed candidates are incumbents: Reps. Mike Bost, R-Ill., Mary Miller, R-Ill., and Darin LaHood, R-Ill.

Trump calls for GOP unity around SAVE America Act

The next big GOP primary challenge forged by Trump is frequent MAGA foil Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on May 19. Trump-backed Ed Gallrein is vying for that seat.

‘I predict that ‘Representative’ Thomas Massie will go down as the WORST Republican Congressman in the long and fabled history of the United States Congress, even worse than Crazy Liz Chaney, Cryin’ Adam Kinzinger, and Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown (Remember, Green turns to Brown under stress!),’ Trump wrote Wednesday morning on Truth Social.

‘They are all misfits and losers, but Massie, who is running against a great American Patriot in the Kentucky Primary, will hopefully lose BIG. I LOVE KENTUCKY!!!’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A group of House Republicans is urging the Trump administration to choke off Russia’s profits from one of its largest energy companies as global oil prices spike.

It comes as the U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, one of Russia’s closest allies and another major energy producer, is threatening to spiral the market out of control both overseas and here at home.

Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, is leading five fellow GOP lawmakers in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent regarding Lukoil — which accounts for roughly 2% of the world’s oil output.

Western sanctions have forced Lukoil to announce it would sell certain international assets as countries like the U.S. and U.K. attempt to whittle down Russia’s control over global energy.

‘The U.S. government has a significant role — in fact, a responsibility — in determining the ultimate fate of these oil and gas assets. We encourage you to exercise the utmost caution to ensure we do not inadvertently squander this opportunity and relinquish our leverage to U.S. adversaries,’ the Republicans wrote.

They warned against a situation where ‘transaction loopholes or back-room deals with Lukoil’s senior management’ could allow Lukoil assets to ‘slip back into Russia’s hands as tensions subside or U.S. sanctions are lifted.’

The six Republicans on the letter, all from Texas, are also lobbying the administration to ease a pathway for Lone Star State companies to acquire those assets.

‘President Trump has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity not only to defund Russia’s war machine but also for leading American energy companies — including at least two headquartered in the great State of Texas — to acquire the LIG portfolio, permanently removing globally significant oil and gas assets from Russian control, enhancing energy security, affordability, and reliability, and strengthening President Trump’s America First agenda,’ they argued.

‘[W]e encourage the Department of the Treasury — in concert with the White House and Departments of Energy, State, and War — to scrutinize every detail of the various proposals to ensure that any sale of LIG’s assets ‘completely severs’ ties with the Russian parent company, paving the way for American energy companies to meet this moment with the urgency and precision it so deserves.’

The push comes at a particularly consequential time on the world stage as Iran continues to retaliate against U.S. allies in the Middle East.

Earlier this month, the U.S. and Israel began a joint operation launching strikes against Iran that targeted its military and nuclear assets as well as top leadership ranks.

Russia, which has been wreaking havoc on European energy markets with its invasion of Ukraine since February 2022, has reportedly been aiding Iran against the U.S. operation.

The Washington Post reported that Moscow was providing intelligence to Tehran to help it target U.S. forces in the region. It’s a particularly significant development in the wake of eight U.S. service members’ deaths since the conflict began.

Pfluger cited the conflict in the new letter, but did not mention Russia’s alleged role in aiding Iran.

‘American energy dominance is critical to our national security, and as the events of the last several days in Iran and the broader Middle East region have highlighted, our ability to promote peace through strength is enabled by our role in facilitating the stable and secure supply of energy to world markets,’ the letter said.

‘In this increasingly complex geopolitical era, we believe America’s energy companies, and not those of our adversaries, should continue leading the way.’

Meanwhile, AAA reported that the average national gas price in the U.S. rose by 27 cents to $3.25 as of March 5 since the Iran conflict began.

As of March 11, AAA’s calculations put the national gas price average at nearly $3.58.

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U.S. forces destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said, in what officials described as a move to prevent Iran from disrupting one of the world’s most critical maritime choke points.

The strikes come as oil traffic through the strait remains at a near standstill, threatening a corridor that carries roughly 20 million barrels per day — about one-fifth of global consumption — and squeezing Gulf exporters like Iraq and Kuwait that rely on the narrow passage to ship their primary source of revenue.

Prior to taking out the mining vessels, Trump demanded Iran remove them ‘IMMEDIATELY!’ warning that if it doesn’t, ‘the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before.’

U.S. officials have long warned that Iran maintains a significant naval mine inventory and has rehearsed tactics designed to threaten commercial shipping in the Gulf. The destruction of the vessels appears aimed at stopping any potential deployment before mines could be laid in shipping lanes.

The Strait of Hormuz, bordered by Iran to the north and Oman and the United Arab Emirates to the south, is a critical artery for global energy markets. Even the threat of mining operations can further disrupt traffic and spike insurance and shipping costs.

It was not immediately clear whether any mines had already been placed in the water before the U.S. action. Citing intelligence sources, CNN reported Iran had laid a few dozen mines in the strait in recent days and had the capability to place hundreds more. 

Since Friday, seven vessels, including four tankers and three bulk carriers, have passed through the strait, according to data from trade intelligence platform Kpler.

The U.S. Navy has been weighing escorts for commercial ships through the strait. 

‘We’re looking at a range of options there and will figure out how to solve problems as they come to us,’ Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told Fox News Tuesday. 

The world is watching to see whether the Navy will step in to try to free up shipping. Immediately after an inaccurate and since-deleted post from Energy Secretary Chris Wright claiming the Navy had escorted a tanker, oil prices fell nearly 12%.

European allies are moving in as well: France sent two frigates to join a European Union-led escort mission for ships through the strait, though their arrival timeline is unclear.

While U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has claimed the U.S. and Israel have ‘total air dominance’ over Iran’s skies, that doesn’t mean the threat from missiles and drones is entirely eliminated yet. 

The Navy won’t escort tankers until Iran’s missile and drone threat is eliminated, retired Gen. Jack Keane told FOX Business. 

‘Makes no sense in terms of the risk when we’re going to finish them off entirely in a few weeks,’ he said.  

Recognizing the squeeze on prices around the globe, Trump announced Monday the U.S. would remove oil-related sanctions. 

‘We are also waiving certain oil-related sanctions to reduce prices,’ he said during a press conference. ‘So in some countries, we’re going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out. Then, who knows, maybe we won’t have to put them on.’

The United States currently maintains sanctions affecting oil Iran, Venezuela, Russia, Syria and North Korea. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to detail what that relief would look like. A 30-day waiver was already recently issued for Russian oil stranded at sea to reach India.

A naval mine costing only a few thousand dollars can cripple or even sink a $2 billion U.S. destroyer. 

The danger is not theoretical: In 1988, USS Samuel B. Roberts nearly sank after striking an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf. 

Mine-laying operations are often conducted covertly at night using small vessels such as fishing dhows or fast-attack craft, allowing mines to be deployed with little warning and potentially devastating consequences.

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Iran will not participate at the 2026 North American World Cup, according to the country’s sports minister Ahmad Donyamali.

Iran’s participation in the tournament co-hosted by the United States has been in doubt after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran starting on Saturday, Feb. 28.

The military campaign killed the nation’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of top officials. Iran has responded with attacks on several U.S. military facilities and other targets around the Middle East.

Amid the growing conflict, Donyamali said that it was not feasible for Iran to send a team to the United States in just three months.

“Considering that this corrupt regime [the US] has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” Donyamali told state television. “Our children are not safe and, fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist.

“Given the malicious actions they have carried out against Iran, they have forced two wars on us over eight or nine months and have killed thousands of our people. Therefore, we definitely have no possibility of participating in this way.’

The World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico between June 11 and July 19.

Iran is currently scheduled to play New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, Belgium in Los Angeles on June 21 and Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

Donyamali’s comments came after FIFA president Gianni Infantino said that U.S. President Donald Trump told him that Iran would be ‘welcome’ at the World Cup despite the ongoing conflict.

But last week, Trump said in an interview with Politico that he didn’t care if Iran played at the World Cup.

USA TODAY Sports reached out to FIFA for comment on Donyamali’s declaration that Iran wouldn’t participate at the World Cup. The governing body said it had nothing to add beyond Infantino’s statement on his meeting with Trump.

Under FIFA regulations, the governing body has broad latitude to replace a country that withdraws from a World Cup.

According to Article 6.7 of FIFA’s World Cup regulations: “If any Participating Member Association withdraws and/or is excluded from the FIFA World Cup 26, FIFA shall decide on the matter at its sole discretion and take whatever action is deemed necessary.’

The next team up could be Iraq, which qualified for an inter-confederation playoff later this month in Mexico. Iraq will face either Bolivia or Suriname on March 31 with a spot in the World Cup on the line.

But Iraq has also been caught up in the conflict. With the country’s airspace currently closed and domestic-based players unable to travel, head coach Graham Arnold recently requested a delay in his country’s World Cup playoff match.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo made NBA history on March 10 against the Washington Wizards in his amazing 83-point performance.

It was the second-most points scored in a game in NBA history, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary 100-point effort in 1962.

As he kept piling up the points, Adebayo remained on the court deep into the fourth quarter of Miami’s eventual 150-129 win, eventually surpassing the 81 points Kobe Bryant scored in 2006.

Adebayo also filled up the box score in several other categories during his 42 minutes of action. He collected nine rebounds, handed out three assists, blocked two shots and made a pair of steals.

And that just begins to tell the story.

Crazy stats from Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game

  • 83 points: second-most in a game in NBA history
  • 36 made free throws: most in NBA history
  • 43 free throw attempts: most in NBA history
  • 22 3-point attempts: tied for third-most in NBA history

Adebayo’s previous career high: 41 points

Bam Adebayo points by quarter

  • First: 31
  • Second: 12
  • Third: 19
  • Fourth: 21

Highest-scoring games in NBA history

Every high-scoring game in the NBA has its own story. Here’s a quick look at the 10 highest totals in a game in league history:

  • 1. Wilt Chamberlain, 100 (March 2, 1962)
  • 2. Bam Adebayo, 83 (March 10, 2026)
  • 3. Kobe Bryant, 81 (Jan. 22, 2006)
  • 4. Wilt Chamberlain, 78 (Dec. 8, 1961)
  • T5. Luka Doncic, 73 (Jan. 26, 2024)
  • T5. David Thompson, 73 (April 9, 1978)
  • T5. Wilt Chamberlain, 73 (Jan. 13, 1962)
  • T5. Wilt Chamberlain, 73 (Nov. 16, 1962)
  • 9. Wilt Chamberlain, 72 (Nov. 3, 1962)
  • T10. Damian Lillard, 71 (Feb. 26, 2023)
  • T10. Donovan Mitchell, 71 (Jan. 2, 2023)
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The WNBA and the WNBPA met in New York on Tuesday to continue CBA negotiations as a March 10 deadline passed, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly about ongoing negotiations.

The person confirmed a meeting between the two sides started roughly around 5 p.m. ET at the Langham Hotel in New York. In attendance were members of the WNBPA executive committee, including president Nneka Ogwumike and vice president Breanna Stewart. From the league’s side, front office leadership, including league operations director Bethany Donaphin, commissioner Cathy Engelbert and Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai were there.

Engelbert reportedly made brief comments to media on-site, but did not answer any questions. She said that talks were ‘complex’ and ‘complicated,’ but maintained the league’s ongoing stance throughout the negotiations: The WNBA wants to get a deal done that is ‘transformational’ for the players. Engelbert also says that getting the deal done is ‘really important to the future not just of the league, but of women’s sports.’

WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson, who was also in New York, reportedly told the media that Tuesday’s hours-long meeting had ‘a lot of conversation going in the right direction.’

‘Every meeting is a positive meeting,’ Jackson said. ‘The fact that we scheduled meetings, that we offer dates to schedule meetings, that we actually get together, get in the room. I think that’s positive. It’s taking as long as it’s taking. But you know, that’s what it needs to be.’

With the March deadline now passed, it’s unclear how much the 2026 season will be impacted. ‘We’ve got to get this deal done,’ Engelbert reportedly said. ‘We’ve got to get it done soon.’

When is the WNBA CBA deadline?

The WNBA said a term sheet for a new CBA needed to be completed by March 10 to avoid delaying the start of the 2026 season. Opening day is scheduled for May 8.

WNBA recent collective bargaining negotiations

The WNBA submitted a counterproposal to the players’ union on March 1 in response to the WNBPA’s Feb. 27 submission. WNBPA executive committee member Kelsey Plum said the league’s offer marked a ‘significant win’ amid negotiations.

In a private letter obtained by ESPN on March 3, Plum and fellow executive committee member Breanna Stewart raised ‘serious concerns’ about the union’s handling of CBA negotiations, citing a lack of player involvement. Stewart said the executive committee met after the letter leaked, which led to ‘a little bit of a tougher call Tuesday night’ that ultimately got ‘the (executive committee) back on track.’

On March 4, the WNBPA executive committee released a statement publicly backing the negotiating team of its executive director Terri Jackson and players’ union president Nneka Ogwumike: ‘In every CBA negotiation, the goal of the league and teams is to divide the players. These negotiations are no different. We remain united and focused on delivering a transformational CBA for all members of the Union, and are committed to negotiating for as long as it takes.’

The WNBPA statement added at the time that the league’s proposal ‘is not worth taking.’ The players’ union met again on Thursday, March 5, which ‘seemed a lot more productive,’ Stewart said. The players’ union sent a proposal back to the league on Friday, March 6, and the league quickly countered on Saturday, March 7, a source familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

What are the key issues between WNBA players and owners?

Revenue sharing and the salary cap remain the top sticking points. Here is where the two sides stand:

  • Revenue sharing: The WNBPA requested 25% of gross revenue in the first year, increasing over the life of the agreement to an average of roughly 26%. The WNBA is currently offering more than 70% of league and team net revenue.
  • Salary cap: The union also proposed a salary cap of less than $9.5 million. The WNBA is proposing a salary cap of $5.75 million per year, rising with league revenues. It will grow to roughly $8.5 million by 2031.

Will WNBA players go on strike?

Players voted in December 2025 to authorize the Women’s National Basketball Players Association’s Executive Committee to ‘call a strike when necessary.’ The WNBPA said the strike authorization vote resulted in 98% yes votes with 93% participation among players.

In a private letter obtained by ESPN on Tuesday, March 3, Stewart and Plum warned a potential work stoppage would harm the league’s financial outlook. After the letter went public, the executive committee said a decision to strike ‘was not taken lightly.’

‘Despite our differences and tough moments, we must make crystal clear that we are focused, we are resolute, and we are together,’ the WNBPA executive committee said on Wednesday, March 4. ‘We want to play basketball in 2026. We want to be in front of our fans playing the game that we love. We will not stop fighting. There is no WNBA without the players.’

Plum echoed that sentiment on March 3. Ahead of the Unrivaled semifinal game on Monday, Plum said: ‘I want to play, and players want to play … And so obviously we’re going to continue to negotiate and do everything we possibly can to get this done in a timely fashion. But obviously, a strike would be the worst thing for both sides, because we are in a revenue (sharing system), so no revenue, no revenue to share.’

Has WNBA ever had a lockout?

When is the 2026 WNBA Draft? Who has No. 1 pick?

The 2026 WNBA Draft is scheduled to take place on Monday, April 13, a little more than a week after a national champion will be crowned at the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Dallas Wings were awarded the No. 1 overall pick in the draft lottery for the second consecutive year. The Wings will have first dibs on big names like UConn’s Azzi Fudd, Spain’s Awa Fam, UCLA’s Lauren Betts, TCU’s Olivia Miles and LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson.

“We want someone who wants to win,” said Wings forward Maddy Siegrist, who represented the team at the lottery in November. The Minnesota Lynx will pick second in the draft, followed by the Seattle Storm.

When is the 2026 expansion draft?

The Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire are set to join the league in 2026 as the 14th and 15th WNBA franchises, but the teams will have to wait a little longer to begin assembling their rosters. That’s because the rules and format of the upcoming expansion draft will be negotiated in the new CBA, meaning the draft cannot be held until a deal is in place.

‘We have given our general managers some guidance on how we’re thinking, but until we get the collective bargaining agreement done, it won’t be finalized as to the format or process,’ WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert said back in October. ‘But you can expect, because you saw what we did last year, something similar.’

When the Golden State Valkyries joined the league as the 13th franchise in 2025, the team’s expansion draft was held on Dec. 6, 2024. The draft rules were released on Sept. 30, 2024 and WNBA teams were required to provide the league with a roster list of all their players by Nov 25, 2024, including six protected players that wouldn’t be available for selection. Golden State then got to pick one player from each team, nearly two months before team-building continued through free agency in late January.

The timeline will be much tighter for the Tempo and Fire with the WNBA’s projected May 8 start date. The league has to squeeze in an expansion draft for two teams, free agency featuring over 100 players, and the 2026 WNBA Draft before opening night.

When does WNBA free agency start?

It’s not clear when WNBA free agency will start, but it will likely be a wild ride. The league will have a staggering amount of free agents as many players avoided signing contracts past the 2025 season, aside from rookie-scale contracts, as a new CBA and higher salaries are on the horizon. Money is not the only thing on the negotiating table — the new CBA could impact free agency rules, such as core designation rules.

2026 WNBA season key dates

The WNBA’s landmark 30th season is scheduled to tip off on Friday, May 8.

  • May 8: Opening Night
  • June 1-June 17: Commissioner’s Cup
  • July 24-27: All-Star Weekend (Chicago)
  • September 1- September 16: FIBA Break
  • September 24: Last day of regular season
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